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Oyston: Riga Has Identified Targets

Chairman On Player Recruitment

Chairman Karl Oyston says he’ll work closely with new manager José Riga on player recruitment this summer.

Riga was officially appointed as Blackpool boss yesterday and has handed his list of targets to Oyston.

“That’s the next big task, we’ve got to recruit players. We need between 15 and 20, it will be a big challenge, which will be good,” Oyston told the official website.

“José will identify targets and we’ll jointly try to get the deal done. It’s important that he sees the players himself, talks to them to see their values and then we’ll make a decision.”

Having worked in The Championship last season, Riga has a number of targets already in mind and will now look to add to Blackpool’s squad for pre-season.

“When he was at Charlton he knew players that he would have liked to recruit there. They are on a similar wage budget, a similar size club to us, so they’re not really targets that scare us.

“We've had the usual 50 to 100 approaches from players and agents about coming here. It’s up to us to pick the ones that José feels can take us forward. It’s important that players are positive and buy into what we’re trying to achieve.”

Part of the recruitment procedure will now involve Oyston meeting any potential new signings, along with Riga, to ensure they will suit the Blackpool system.

“The way we recruit players will be a lot more analytical, rather than previous scatter gram approaches which we’ve had. When we get the players we need to make sure we’ve got the right characters that buy into what the manager wants to do.

“We’ll formally interview players before making a decision, and I’ve got to support that by making sure we get deals over the line that are important to José, and get the spine of the team back.

“I think José’s approach is pretty meticulous, not unorthodox, it’s a continental approach that works very well for foreign clubs. I think we as a national would do well to really change our ways a little.”

José will identify targets and we’ll jointly try to get the deal done.